Many Safari users have found the service crashing and returning them to their device home screen when they attempt to use the app's search bar to browse the web, according to widespread complaints on social media.

However, not all users appear to be affected by the issue and it remains unclear whether it is linked to a software update released earlier this week by the firm.

Twitter user Thom O'Neil was one of hundreds to report the problem: "Safari on my iPhone crashes every time I try and type in the search bar," he wrote.

"Have deleted data etc and updated iOS but still does it."

The issue appears to be related to the app's search suggestions feature, which offers users potential searches based on what they begin to type. A quick fix currently being suggested online is to turn off the suggestions feature from within a device's settings.

Apple is yet to comment on the problem.

Good morning iOS & Mac users. If your safari app is being a bit moody, it woke up on the wrong side & note this. https://t.co/2vkIBD7pUi

It comes less than a day after Apple's latest financial results, in which despite posting record profits, the company warned that it expects iPhone growth to decline for the first time in the smartphone's history in the second quarter of the year.

Last week, fellow technology giant Twitter also suffered service problems when the social media site went down for more than six hours due to a problem with the code that runs the service.